stewart



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. R. G. STEWART, Jr. & W. AQSTEWART.

JAIL. No. 584,610. Patented June 15, 1897.

k; E ia Q ci e E w w .e a o o NS o v o o l V `& A" TVI" j N if; WW muim, .m .lmifninumm s l 'V' "1 w d l l: N e I o o o a o ...ummmw 1w jfmmnw Hum" Mulini@ mm1 .umnml'g'l 2 sheetssheer 2. R. C. STEWART, Jr. 8vW. A. STEWART.

,(No Model.)

JAIL.

Patented June 15,1819?.

Nrnn

RICHARD O. STElVART, JR., AND VALLAOE A. STEWART, OF COVINGTON KENTUCKY.

JAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,610, dated June 15,1897.

Application iiled September 21, 1896. Serial No. 606,522. (No model.)

T0 all 11,172,071?, t may] concern.-

Beit known that we, RICHARD C. STEWART, Jr., and WALLACE A. STEWART,citizens of the United States, residing at Covington, in the county ofKenton and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Jails; and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being hadto the annexed drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to those jails or prisons wherein the cell-doorsopen outwardly into a corridor and are unlocked and then opened by meansof reciprocating bars arranged above the doors and controlled solely bya jailer or other guard stationed in some secure place, and the iirstpart of our improvements includes a special combination of devices forcommunicating motion from the bars to the unlocking and openingmechanisms, as hereinafter more fully described.

The second part of our improvements consists in housing the engagingends of these bars within a box containing a peculiarly-constructedshifting mechanism, which latter is capable of being set in such amanner as to advance or retract either one of said bars singly or tomove all of them simultaneously, either back or forth, as hereinaftermore fully described.

Our invention further comprises certain details of construction thatenable the aforesaid improvements to be carried out in the simplest andmost effective manner, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a sectional elevation of a jail orprison embodying our various improvements, six reciprocating bars andone closed and locked door being shown and portions of said door and thecell to which it is applied being broken away. Fig. 2 is an elevation ofsufficient of said mechanism to show how it unlocks the door. Fig. 3 isan enlarged detail view of a guide and antifriction roller used inconnection with the reciprocating bars. Fig. 4 is a vertical section ofa box that incloses the shifting mechanism, a set of bolts housed withinsaid box being fully retracted. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of thebox, taken in the ing broken away in Figs. l and 2.

plane of one of said retracted bolts. Fig. 6 is an enlarged horizontalsection through a casing at the lock edge of a door and cell. Fig. 7 isa detail view of the engaging end of a reciprocating bar. Fig. 8 is asectionized plan of a device for swinging a cell-door, the latter beingclosed. Fig. 9 is a similar plan, but showing the door opened. Fig. 10is an enlarged axial section through a portion of the gearing thatoperates the bolts. Figs. ll, l2, 13, 14, and l5 show five differentmodifications of our invention.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, A represents an end or side of one of anysuitable number of cells arranged along a corridor or other passage in ajail or prison, and A is a door hinged to said cell at a and adapted toopen outwardly or into said passage.

a in Figs. 2 and 6 is the lock edge of the door, and a is a casing thatassists-i in concealing said edge, a portion of this casing bea'" is acounterpart of the casing, attached to the cell A. l-Ioused within thisdouble casing and adapted to be readily shifted both vertically andlaterally is a lap-plate B, of suflicent width to completely cover thejoint where the lock edgeof the door fits into the door-frame of thecell, which plate may be applied to said cell by a set of swinginglinks, one of the latter being seen at 5 in Fig. (5. We prefer, however,to effect this vertical and lateral shifting of said plate by securingto its rear surface a pair of inclined bars b b, adapted to travel onsmall rollers b, j ournaled to the exterior of the cell A. These `stripsshould be inclined at such an angle as to launch the plate B toward theclosed door A the instant said plate is permitted to drop down. b is anotch in one edge of said plate for a purpose that will presentlyappear.

Secured above the cell-doors and ruiming along the corridor is ametallic casing O, containing all the reciprocating bars and theirattachments for operating the lap-plates B, said casing being slotted atc to permit the proper vertical andplateral play of said plates. Theseplates are suspended from the short arms of bell-cranks D, pivoted tothe cells at d and having their longer arms slotted at d d. Said slotscommunicate with each other,

IOO

are arranged about at the angle shown, and the slot d is relativelyshorter than the slot d. Adapted to traverse these slots is a pin CZ,projecting horizontally from a reciprocating bar E, coiiiined to aproper path by guides F F and usually carried by rollers f, as seen inFig. 3. This bar is sufficiently long to remain at all times within theguide F when sufficiently advanced, and its engaging end has on itsupper edge three notches e e.' e and on its lower edge a cut-awayportion c. 6 is a hook at the extreme end of this bar, as seen in Fig.7. Furthermore, this notched or engaging end of the baris housed withina box A", having a hinged lid A, provided with a secure lock, the boxbeing located in a guard-room at one end of the corridor.

A is a thick plate partition separating the box from the adjoining cell,the plate being slotted at 66" for the free passage of the reciprocatingbars, whose engaging ends are normally elevated a sufficient distance tocause their notches e to interlock with the upper ends of said slotsthis raising of said bars being preferably effected by springs G. Thefixed ends of these springs are secured within the casing C, and theirfree ends are quite lnear the trailing ends of the cutaway portions c ofthe bars E when said bars are completely advanced, as seen in Fig. l. Inthe presentinstance six of these bars E E E2 E3 E4 E5 are shown, and themechanism for shifting them back and forth is arranged as follows:

Attached to the top and bottom of the box A are horizontal guides IIII', traversed by a carriage composed of three parallel vertical platesI I I", suitably fastened together, the plates I I being slotted at t'i' and rollers 1l being fitted between said plates, as seen in Fig.Lland indicated by dotted circles in Fig. 1. These rollers run upon anangle-iron track I', projecting horizontally from the partition A. Againthe carriage is provided with six sliding bolts J J J2 J3 J4 J5, one foreach of the bars E, and each bolt has a rackj and beveled advancing endj.

K K K2 K3 K4 K5 are gear-wheels engaged with the bolt-racks and carriedby sleeves le 7c k2 7c3 7 04 7t5, fitted within each other in the mannerindicated in Fig. l0, the inner sleeve h5 being adapted to revolvearound a fixed shaft L, secured to the carriage I I I. Attached to thelower ends of these sleeves are collars M M M2 M3 M4 M5, having handlesm m m2 m3 m4 m5, wlierewith either sleeve can be turned independently ofits associates. N are brackets that separate these collars and assist insupporting the various sleeves.

O is a vertical rock-shaft journaled within the box A" and having one ormore gearwheels o engaged with racks o' of the carriage, the shaft beingoperated by a lever 0" after being unlocked from a stop 0, securedwithin the box A.

Attached to the back of the carriage by guides p is a vertically-slidingplate I), having slots p to engage with the notches e in certainemergencies, the plate being raised and lowered by a lever p, pivotedupon the track I"".

Projecting from the outer surface of each bar E is a frame Q, having arack q and an untoothed portion q', a pinion R being located in the pathof said frame, as more clearly seen in Figs. 8 and 9, and said pinionbeing secured upon a shaft r.

Shaft r is journaled in a suitable bearing and has its lower endfastened to a lug fr', projecting rigidly from the upper part of thedoor A and axially in line with its hinges d.

S in Fig. 7 is a pin connecting together the plates I I of the carriageand serving as a stop for the hook 8" to bear against.

The normal positions of all the above-described operative parts are seenin Figs. 1,4, and 5, reference to which illustrations shows that all thereciprocating bars E are now ad vanced and their notches c brought inline with the slots t' t" of the carriage. Consequently the other slotsc occupy the slot-s p of the verticallyacting plate P. The other notchese of the bars are engaged with the slots am of the partition A onaccount of the upward pressure of the springs G or their equivalentdevices. Again, the bolts J are now drawn completely back, their beveledendsj being housed within the carriage-slots t" and therefore being inline with the opposing notches e and slots 'L'. Furthermore, in thisadvanced position of the various bars E their pins CZ are at the lowerends of the short slots d of the bell-cranks D, and for this reason thelap-plates B are lowered, so as to cover the meetingjoint a of the celland door, it being understood that the latter is now closed and locked.In this advanced position of the bars E the untoothed portions q' oftheir frames Q, are opposite the pinions R. (See Fig. 8.)

An inspection of Fig. 6 shows it would be very difiicult for a prisonerto pry open the joint d and obtain access to the lap-plate B but eventhen he could not raise it, because the pin CZ prevents the bell-crank Dturning on its pivot, and until such a turning is effected said platewill remain immovable in its normal position. Neither can a prisonerpull down the end of a bar and then force it back, because the veryinstant said bar is sufficiently depressed to free its notch c" from theslot am the hook c of said bar comes in contact with the pin S ofcarriage I, and the latter is now a fixture on account of itsoperating-lever 0 beinglocked to the stop 0. (See Figs. 5 and 7.) Itwill thus be seen that a cell-door cannot be opened until an officer rstunlocks the box-lid A, releases the free end of lever o, and thencouples the proper bar to carriage I I I.

Assuming now that the lower bar E is the one to be coupled to thecarriage, the guard or other officer grasps the upper handle m and IOCIIO

swings it- 'around in such a way as to turn the wheel K, therebyadvancing the bolt J and forcing it through the notch c ot the har andslott' of the carriage. Consequentlythe beveled end j of the bolt actsas a wedge that depresses the bar E far enough to disengage its notch e"from slot ct"" of the plate A"", as above described. Evidently the bar Eis now temporarily coupled to the carriage I I' I" and will partake ofany retracting motion imparted to the latter. This retraction iseffected by simply swinging forward the free end of lever 0", the resultbeing to run the carriage back on its track 1" and cause the followingmovements to take place: As soon as the bar starts back the free end ofspring G enters the cutaway portion c'", thereby greatly diminishing thepressure of said spring and enabling the mechanism to be operatedwithout the exertion of much power. Simultaneously with this retractionof the bar its pin CZ'" bears against one side of the shorter slot d' ofthe bell-crank D and swings the latter far enough to raise the plate Band shift it to one side until it reaches the position seen in Fig. 2,in which position the lock edge of the door A is exposed. The continuedretraction of bar E causes the pin CZ'" to traverse the now horizontalslot d" of the bell-crank, and on this account no further motion isimparted to said device D. As soon, however, as said pin begins totravel along this slot d" the rack q commences its engagement with thepinion R, thereby initiating the opening of the door A', which willreach the position seen in Fig. 9 when said rack has completed itsstroke. Hence it will be seen that the bar E performs the twofold dutiesof first unlocking the door and then opening it, and it acts in aprecisely reverse manner in shutting and fastening said portal A'. Toclose and secure said door, the lever o" is so swung around as toadvance the carriage I and draw forward with it the bar E, during whichact the rack q and pinion R turn the door around on its hinges a, andthen when the untoothed portion q of the frame Q is opposite said pinionthe lap-plate B gradually slides down on the rollers b' and resumes itsnormal position. Bolt J is n ext retracted, so as to relieve bar E fromall downward pressure and permit the spring G to elevate it and therebyrengage the notch c" with the slot 60"" of partition A"".

Evidently either one of the six bars can be reciprocated in theabove-described manner after turning the proper handle so as to couplethe desired bar to the carriage; but by swinging all of these handlesaround successively every one of said bars will be engaged by theirrespective bolts. Consequently if the carriage is now retracted everydoor in the corridor will be unlocked and thrown wide open. There may beemergencies, however, as in the event of a lire, when there would not betime enough to operate the handles separately, and in such a case theplate P is brought in service by simply forcing it down and causing itsslots pto engage with the notches e' of all the bars. By this simpleexpedient all the bars are tied together by said plate, and then wheneither one of them is coupled to the carriage and the latter retractedsaid bars run back and -instantly unlock and open the cell-doors..

As previously stated, the lower bar E eX- tends back only far enough tooperate the rst door A', but the next bar E' must be somewhat longer, soas to actuate the second door, and so on for as many bars as may be usedin one casing. Therefore the second bar and all those above it shouldhave vertical rods connecting their bell-cranks to the lap-plates B, soas to avoid any unnecessary lengthening of the latter.

The above is a description of the preferred form of our invention, butit is evident the details of construction can be greatly varied, oneself-evident change being seen in Fig'. 11, where levers T are shown fordepressing the bars E. t are rods for holding down said levers, thelower ends of said rods being engaged with pins or other fixtures of thecarriage I.

In Fig. 12 an unslotted bell-crank D' is shown, an d a pair of pins dm'cl"" project from the bar E for the purpose ot rocking said crank.

In Fig. 13 the carriage I has a lateral lug U, provided with a stud it,that traverses a slot i: of a bell-crank V, secured to the shaft O,l inorder that the swinging of said crank will advance and retract saidcarriage.

Here' it may be mentioned that in Figs. l and et the pinions K and 0 areshown as being complete circles, but in Fig. 5 said devices appear assegments, thereby indicating that the carriage may be operated from theshaft O in any desired manner. l

In Fig. 14 the ends of the reciprocatingbars E are beveled off at e5, soas to be readily acted on by inclined planes or cams WV at the end ofarms w. These arms should be attached to the sleeves 7o, in order thatthe proper turning of said sleeves will swing around said arms and causetheir cams to depress the bars.

Fig. 15 shows that the bar E may be shifted by a simple lever X after awedge as has been pulled out of a slot in the partition A"", the

carriage I and bolt mechanism J K being dispensed with in this simpleform of our invention, but the bell-crank, lap-plate, and dooroperatingdevices being retained. Finally, a lock Ymay be attached to the door andhave a bolt y, capable of being shot into the notch b" of the lap-plateB when said door is to be temporarily fastened.

YV@ claim as our inventionl. A door provided with locking and openingdevices; a single reciprocating bar that successively operates saiddevices; an advancing and retracting carriage; and means for couplingsaid bar to said carriage, for the purpose described.

IOO

IIO

2. A series of doors provided with locking and opening devices;reciprocating bars that successively operate said devices; an advancingand retracting carriage; appliances for coupling said bars to saidcarriage; and means for independently operating either of saidappliances, for the purpose stated.

A series of doors provided with locking and opening devices;reciprocating notched bars that successively operate said devices; anadvancing and retracting carriage; rackbolts that couple said bars tosaid carriage; gears engaged with said racks; and means forindependently revolving either of said gears, for the purpose stated.

4t. A series of doors provided with locking and opening devices;reciprocating notched bars that successively operate said devices; anadvancing and retractin g carriage, having transverse slots; rack-boltsthat traverse said notches and slots; gears engaged with said racks; andmeans for independently operating either of said gears, for the purposedescribed.

5. A series of doors provided with locking and opening devices;reciprocating notched bars that successively operate said devices; anadvancing and retracting carriage; a slotted tie-plate appliedvertically to said carriage; and means for shiftin g said plates, so asto couple together the entire set of bars, for the purpose described.

6. A series of doors provided With locking and opening devices;reciprocating.;` notched bars that successively operate said devices;means for advancing and retracting said bars; a slotted iXed platethrough which the latter pass; and springs that normally retain saidbars in engagement With said plate, for the purpose described. y

7. A door provided with locking and opening devices; a reciprocatingnotched bar that successively operates said devices; means for advancingand retracting said bar; a slotted iiXed plate through which the latterpasses; a spring that retains said bar in engagement with said plate;and a cut-away portion on the under side of said bar, for the purposedescribed.

S. A jail-door; a vertically and laterally shiftable lap-plate B, thatlocks said door; a double-slotted bell-crank D d d, from which saidplate is suspended; and a reciprocating bar E, having a pin d", thattraverses said slots, in the manner described, and for the purposestated.

A door provided with locking and opening devices; a reciprocating barthat successively operates said devices, and has tWo notches on itsupper edge, and a cut-away portion on its under edge; an advancing andretractin g carriage; a device that couples said bar to said carriage; aslotted iixed plate traversed by said bar; and a spring that normallyengages one of said upper notches with said slotted plate, for thepurpose described.

10. A jail-door; a vertically and laterally shiftable lap-plate B, thatlocks said door; a double-slotted bell-crank D d d, from Which saidplate is suspended; a shaft R secured to said door, and in line With theaxis of its hinges; a pinion R, attached to said shaft; a frame Q,having a rack q, and untoothed portion q', and a reciprocating bar Ecarrying said frame, and having a pin d, that traverses said slots CZ',d, said bar E, and its attach.- ments, being so arranged With referenceto the other operative parts as to unlock the door before opening it,and to lock it after being closed, all as herein described.

1l. A jail-door provided With locking and openingdevices; a singlereciprocating bar that successively operates said devices, and plays upand down at one end; means for normally raising said bar; and a stopthat prevents its clandestine retraction, when lowered, as hereindescribed.

l2. The cell A, having a casing a'" secured to it; the door A', having acasing a fastened to it, and overlapping the other casing am; and aplate B playing Within said casings, for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof We attiX our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

RICHARD C. STEWART, JR. VALLACE A. STEWART.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. LAYMAN, JOHN C. ROGERS..

